Development of Sonic Adventure 2 began following the completion of its predecessor. Development took 18 months; it was produced in commemoration of the Sonic series' tenth anniversary and was designed to be faster-paced and more action-oriented than the original. The development team also expanded upon the presence of the Chao creatures and other player characters. Its locations were influenced by American locations such as San Francisco and Yosemite National Park. The game was announced in October 1999 and was exhibited at E3 2000.

Sonic Adventure 2 received generally positive reviews, receiving praise for its gameplay variety, visuals, and audio, though some criticized its camera, voice acting, and plot. An enhanced port for the GameCube, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, was released in 2002; this version features improved textures and multiplayer options. The game was also ported to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows in 2012.

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Sonic rides a snowboard and performs tricks in City Escape, the first level of the Hero story in Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Adventure 2 is a 3D game with six playable characters, divided into two campaigns: Hero (with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles the Echidna, where the player battles to save the world) and Dark (with Shadow the Hedgehog, Doctor Eggman and Rouge the Bat, where they battle to conquer it). Each character on each side has a playing style similar to the other characters on the side. The player moves through the Hero and Dark campaigns, switching between them at will. Each campaign cycles through levels of its three characters, telling different sides of the story. Levels have a variety of themes (such as cities, jungles, desert pyramids and outer space), with some followed by boss fights. The two campaigns' stories occur in parallel; completing both campaigns unlocks a Last Story with all six characters, culminating in a final boss fight.[1]

Sonic and Shadow play fast-paced levels, emphasizing platforming and gameplay.[2] Their homing attack can lock onto robots created by Eggman and G.U.N., and they can grind on rails. Tails' and Eggman's levels are slower and oriented towards multi-directional shooting; they are confined to mechs in which they can jump short heights, hover and shoot enemies. Knuckles' and Rouge's levels are open and feature action-adventure gameplay with treasure hunting; in each level, they must find three shards of the Master Emerald. Their search is guided by radar and puzzle-based clues from harmless robots.[1] Knuckles and Rouge can glide, defeat enemies with punches and kicks[2] and scale walls, digging into them to find power-ups.[3]

Adventure 2 has the health system found in many other Sonic games. The player collects rings scattered throughout the levels; being hit by an enemy while holding rings causes the player to drop them all, while being hit without rings causes them to lose a life. Tails and Eggman have the customary health bar, which is slowly refilled by collecting rings. Dying with no lives results in a game over screen.[4] The characters can obtain permanent upgrades that grant them new abilities; for example, one allows Sonic and Shadow to dash along a sequential trail of rings to reach distant platforms, while another lets Knuckles and Rouge attack powerfully enough to break certain containers.[5] Chaos Drives can be used with the player's Chao (small, anthropomorphic animals).[6]

Separate from the main campaigns, the player can raise Chao as virtual pets.[1] They have five attributes (Swim, Fly, Run, Power and Stamina) and a moral continuum from Hero to Dark. From the moment they hatch their stats can be increased with Chaos Drives or small animals, empowering them to compete in karate[7] and racing minigames.[2] Their alignment gradually changes, based on their affection for a characters; for example, a Chao which likes Tails will gradually become more heroic. Playing with Chao increases affection, and when a Chao becomes fully Hero or Dark it assumes that form permanently.[8] Although Chao eventually die, if they received enough affection during their lives they reincarnate.[9]

Adventure 2 has 180 emblems, earned for a variety of tasks.[10] Each level has five missions; only the first is required to continue the campaign, and other missions include completing a harder version of a level and collecting 100 rings. The player earns emblems by completing missions and other tasks, many related to Chao raising. Collecting all the emblems unlocks a 3D version of the Green Hill Zone stage from the original Sonic the Hedgehog.[11]

The game has several two-player modes. Players may race on foot through new (or altered) levels, have shoot-'em-up battles in mechs,[2] hunt for Master Emerald shards[12] or race in go-karts.[2] A few characters are playable in these modes, but not in the main game; Tikal and Chaos from the original Sonic Adventure are playable in the treasure-hunting game,[13] as are Amy Rose and Metal Sonic in the foot-racing levels.[14]

Learning of a secret weapon from the diary of his late grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, Eggman infiltrates a high-security G.U.N. facility and revives it using a Chaos Emerald.[15] The weapon, a black hedgehog and self-proclaimed "Ultimate Life Form", Shadow, offers to help Eggman conquer the world, telling him to rendezvous at an abandoned space colony, ARK, with more Chaos Emeralds. Shadow goes to Central City, encountering G.U.N.'s forces after stealing an Emerald. Shadow has vowed to fulfill a promise to a girl, Maria, which he interprets as one of revenge.[16] Shadow blasts through the military force and meets Sonic. After a brief confrontation, Shadow escapes and G.U.N. captures Sonic, whom they mistake for Shadow.

Knuckles encounters Rouge and Eggman, who try to steal the Master Emerald. He stops them by shattering the emerald and searches for the scattered shards.[17] Rouge, spying for the government, heads to Eggman's base[18] and the ARK. There, Shadow shows Eggman the Eclipse Cannon, another superweapon created by Gerald, and discloses his plan: to charge the cannon with Chaos Emeralds and use it to take over the world. Rouge appears, offering them a Chaos Emerald to gain their trust.

Tails and Amy infiltrate G.U.N.'s island base and rescue Sonic,[19] while Eggman, Shadow and Rouge collect three Emeralds on the island.[20][21][22] Eggman makes a global broadcast threatening to fire on Earth in 24 hours if his demands are not met, demonstrating the cannon's power by destroying half the Moon. Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles use their Chaos Emerald to track down the other six. They infiltrate Eggman's base,[23] boarding his shuttle before it launches into space. Knuckles' Master Emerald shards are spilled along the way, and he leaves to collect them.[24] He again fights Rouge, but when he saves her from falling into a lava pit, she gives him her shards and he restores the Master Emerald.

On the ARK, Tails reveals he has designed a counterfeit Chaos Emerald to destroy the Eclipse Cannon. As Sonic is about to use it, Eggman tells him that he has captured Tails and Amy, forcing him to return and rescue them.[25] Sonic tries to trick Eggman with the fake Chaos Emerald, but Eggman jettisons him in an escape pod rigged with explosives. Tails, thinking Sonic dead, defeats Eggman. Sonic uses the power of the fake emerald to escape;[26] Shadow is sent to intercept him, but Sonic defeats him and destroys the Eclipse Cannon.[27]

Eggman sneaks away from Tails and Amy with the last Emerald and arms the Eclipse Cannon. When he tries to fire it, the colony begins falling and a prerecorded message from Gerald broadcasts: he programmed the ARK to collide with Earth if the Emeralds were used, destroying it in revenge for the government condemning his research and killing his colleagues, including his granddaughter Maria. Everyone works together to access the cannon's core and neutralize the ARK using the Master Emerald.[28]

When Shadow refuses to participate, Amy pleads for his help, reminding him of Maria's real request: for him to help mankind. Shadow catches up with Sonic and Knuckles in the core and they encounter the Biolizard, a prototype Ultimate Life Form. Shadow repels it, allowing Knuckles to deactivate the Chaos Emeralds with the Master Emerald. The Biolizard uses Chaos Control to fuse with the cannon, becoming the Finalhazard and continuing the ARK's collision course.

Sonic and Shadow use the Emeralds to transform into their super forms, defeating the Finalhazard and using Chaos Control to teleport the ARK back into stable orbit. This depletes Shadow's energy and he plummets to Earth, content in fulfilling his promise to Maria. The people on Earth celebrate as the heroes return home and Sonic bids Shadow farewell.

Sonic Adventure 2 was developed by Sonic Team USA, a former American division of Sonic Team, and published by Sega. The game, directed by longtime series contributor Takashi Iizuka, was developed over an 18-month period beginning shortly after the release of the American version of Sonic Adventure. It was designed to be more action-oriented than the slower-paced, more story-based Adventure. The development team ran the game at 60 frames per second with "tempo", giving Sonic a variety of actions rather than focusing on speed alone. Its levels facilitated this flow, making Sonic seem faster than he was.[29]

For the game's levels and environments the developers were inspired by San Francisco (their headquarters) and other American locations, such as Yosemite National Park (where they vacationed during its development) and the San Francisco Bay Area. Compared to Adventure, the sequel was intended to have "more of an American flavor".[29] Although the game's level design prioritized the frame rate, it was more streamlined than Adventure because of the team's experience with Dreamcast hardware.[30] Whereas Sonic Team tried to include as much content as possible in Sonic Adventure, in the sequel, they only concentrated on the elements they deemed necessary.[31]

Iizuka described the Chao as a "relative neutral entity" in Sonic Adventure. In the sequel the developers expanded the creatures' presence, adding the ability to raise "Hero" and "Dark" Chao to reflect the conflict between good and evil. For the same reason, all six playable characters have roughly equal gameplay time (unlike Adventure, where Big the Cat's and E-102 Gamma's stories were short).[29] In Adventure 2 Chao have the ability to socialize, so they resemble a "real artificial life form."[30]

Sega announced a follow-up to Sonic Adventure and a spinoff (which would become Sonic Shuffle) on October 4, 1999.[32] The newly named Sonic Adventure 2 appeared at E3 2000, with Sonic Team adding video shown there to its website on June 30.[33] Sonic Team posted a trailer and a number of screenshots on May 30, 2001,[34] with Sega promoting Sonic Adventure 2 as the last Sonic game for the Dreamcast and as marking the series' 10th anniversary.[35] Sega held a 10th-anniversary party for Sonic in June 2001, at which attendees could compete in a battle tournament; the winner played against Iizuka.[30] The GameCube, rather than the competing Xbox or PlayStation 2, was chosen for a port of Sonic Adventure 2 because of its 56k technology. Sega and Sonic Team USA were unconcerned with the fact that the Xbox would feature broadband Internet connectivity, and the GameCube would not.[36]

As with Sonic Adventure, Jun Senoue served as the game's lead composer and sound director. He was assisted by Fumie Kumatani, Tomoya Ohtani, and Kenichi Tokoi, who all contributed additional music. The soundtrack is primarily melodic rock, with some hip-hop and orchestral tracks.[37] As in Adventure, each character has a musical theme. The game features performances by returning vocalists Tony Harnell, Ted Poley, Marlon Saunders, Nikki Gregoroff and Johnny Gioeli, and new vocalists Tabitha Fair, Todd Cooper, Paul Shortino, Everett Bradley, Kaz Silver and Hunnid-P. Crush 40 (consisting of Senoue and Gioeli)[38] debuted on the game's main theme, "Live & Learn".[39]

Several soundtrack albums for the game were released. Sonic Adventure 2 Multi-Dimensional Original Soundtrack was released in Japan by Marvelous Entertainment on September 5, 2001. Sonic Adventure 2 Vocals Collection: Cuts Unleashed, an album with character theme tracks by Senoue and Tokoi, was released by MMV in Japan on August 21, 2001. For the twentieth anniversary of the Sonic series, Sonic Adventure 2 Original Soundtrack 20th Anniversary Edition was released on iTunes on June 22, 2011.[40] On October 29, 2014, a two volume original soundtrack was also released on iTunes.[41][42] The soundtrack is also slated for release as a vinyl LP in late 2017, and will include interviews with Senoue and Iizuka.[43]

A GameCube port, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, was released on February 11, 2002. In Europe, Battle was marketed and distributed by Infogrames, following a deal to distribute Sega's games on the GameCube and GBA.[44]Battle has more detailed textures and additional geometry,[45] and extends the multiplayer options, including new abilities, upgrades, and exclusive characters, and removes online play.[46] Big the Cat is replaced by a Dark Chao in multiplayer mode.[47]Battle also upgrades much of the Chao system, with a Chao's stats viewable within the game,[48] and the option to transfer Chao from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle to the Tiny Chao Garden in Sonic Advance, Sonic Advance 2, and Sonic Pinball Party with the GameCube-Game Boy Advance link cable. If a Game Boy Advance is connected without a game, a version of the Tiny Chao Garden can be copied temporarily into the Game Boy Advance's memory. This version also introduces the Chao Karate feature.[49]

Sonic Adventure 2 received critical acclaim, with scores of 89 from review aggregator Metacritic.[55] Critics appreciated the game's multiple playing styles. According to Edge and reviewer Four-Eyed Dragon of GamePro, the core game's three styles and bonus features such as Chao gardens made the game engaging to play.[37][56] Johnny Liu of Game Revolution praised its replay value of multiple playing styles and 180 different goals.[57] Anthony Chau of IGN called it "one of the best Sonic games ever": "If this is the last Sonic game in these declining Dreamcast years, it's satisfying to know that the DC didn't go out with a bang, but with a sonic boom."[1]

Shahed Ahmed of GameSpot criticized Adventure 2's camera for the "cardinal sin" of 3D platformers: forcing a player to jump to an out-of-frame platform. Ahmed wrote that although a player can re-orient the camera with the trigger buttons, it reverts when the character moves.[2] According to Chau and Liu camera issues were absent in Tails' and Eggman's levels and insignificant in Sonic's and Shadow's, but searching for Emerald shards and items in cramped sections of Knuckles' and Rouge's levels was frustrating.[1][57]Edge found camera problems permeating the game, with no significant improvement from Adventure.[56]

Liu called the graphics "sweet, sweet eye-crack".[57] Four-Eyed Dragon wrote: "Sonic [Adventure] 2 is simply jaw-dropping beautiful", citing its detailed backgrounds and scenery and the playable characters' and enemies' extensive color palettes.[37] According to Chau, the game had "some of the best textures ever seen" and was one of the most beautiful Dreamcast games.[1]Edge was impressed by the texture detail and draw distance,[56] and Chau, Liu and Ahmed praised its 60-frame-per-second rendering speed.[1][2][57]

According to Ahmed the game's music was a step up from Adventure's "campy glam-rock and J-pop soundtrack", with less emphasis on lyrics,[2] and Liu appreciated its more "understated" approach.[57] Four-Eyed Dragon called Adventure 2's music "an eclectic mix of orchestrated masterpieces, guitar tunes, and melodic hip-hop voices gracefully fill the game's ambiance to a perfect pitch."[37] Reaction to the voice acting was mixed; although Ahmed said, "The voice acting, and the lip-synching in particular, is executed quite well",[2] Liu and Chau thought the English voices were inferior to the Japanese ones.[1][57]

Ahmed criticized Adventure 2's plot: "Throughout the game the plot becomes more and more scattered and lackluster", not focusing long enough on one element to execute it meaningfully.[2] Although Liu agreed that despite the game's ambitious scope and themes it failed to advance the series' core plot beyond the Sega GenesisSonic games,[57]Edge appreciated the story's presentation from both perspectives: hero and villain.[56]

Despite high review scores for the Dreamcast version, the GameCube version released six months later received poorer reviews: respective Metacritic and GameRankings scores of 73 percent and 72.33 percent.[58][59] Critics generally felt that although the game was still enjoyable, it was not significantly improved from the Dreamcast original.[45][60] However, Shane Bettenhausen of GameSpy saw Battle as noticeably superior; in addition to its upgrades, its action was better suited to the GameCube's controller than the Dreamcast's.[61] The game sold almost 50,000 copies in its first week in Japan.[62] By July 2006, it had sold 1.2 million copies and earned $44 million in the United States. Next Generation ranked it as the 42nd highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country.[63] It sold 1.44 million copies in the United States by December 2007, making it one of the best-selling GameCube games.[64]

Sonic Adventure 2 received several accolades, including the 2001 IGN's Editors' Choice Award.[65]ScrewAttack called it the fifth-best Dreamcast game,[66] and GamesRadar rated it the tenth-greatest Dreamcast game out of 25: "Despite trailing off significantly in recent years, the 3D side of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise had a surprisingly stellar start with the Sonic Adventure entries, and the 2001 sequel really amped up the action".[67] In February 2014, IGN's Luke Karmali called Battle his tenth-favorite game of all time.[68]

Shadow and Rouge, who debuted in Adventure 2, have become recurring characters in the Sonic franchise. Both appeared along with new character E-123 Omega as "Team Dark", one of the playable character teams, in Sonic Heroes (2003), the follow-up to Adventure 2.[69] Shadow starred in his own game, Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), which expands on many of Adventure 2's plot points and features a similar 3D platforming gameplay style.[70]

With a few modifications, the plots of Adventure and Adventure 2 were reprised during the second season of the anime Sonic X (2003–06). American licensing corporation 4Kids Entertainment hired an entirely new voice cast for the English dub, but the Japanese cast from the games reprised their roles in the original version of the show.[71]

Sonic Generations (2011), released to mark the series' twentieth anniversary, contains gameplay elements and levels from various Sonic games, including Adventure 2.[72] Elements from Sonic Adventure 2 included a remake of the City Escape stage in the console versions[73] and a remake of the Radical Highway stage in the Nintendo 3DS version.[74] Shadow also appears in a recreation of his boss battle,[75] and the Biolizard boss is recreated exclusively in the 3DS version.[74]